WWW arkcity.net

By FOSS FARRAR
and DAVID ALLEN SEATON
Staff Writers

The young man being held for questioning related to the disappearance and death of Jodi Sanderholm was playing bingo Saturday night at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Arkansas City, a VFW official said.

Clyde Hatcher, quartermaster of the VFW Post 1254, said he saw the suspect as he was calling the bingo games last weekend.

He said someone else attending the games told him they saw an unmarked police car parked in the post's parking lot. The police car followed the suspect as he drove away.

More details about the suspect are emerging, but Ark City police today said they would not discuss when and how the suspect was arrested. Local authorities referred all questions to the Kansas Attorney General Office, which is assisting in the case.

AG spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett said Thursday morning that no official identification of Sanderholm's body had been made, but that criminal charges could be filed sometime later today.

She did not return a phone call later to inquire about the suspect's arrest last weekend and to answer questions as to why the suspect was not in jail during the time of Sanderholm's disappearance.

Last night, the suspect, whose name has not been released by authorities, called the Subway restaurant in Arkansas City from the Cowley County Jail, a Subway night manager said.

Jodi went missing last Friday and was last seen about 1 p.m. that day at the Subway. News of her disappearance spread rapidly the next day.

The Subway night manager said last night that when she answered the phone and learned it was a collect call from the suspect, she hung up.

The man had been employed briefly by Subway before Jodi's disappearance.

A body was found early Tuesday morning about eight miles from the Cowley State Fishing Lake. Later that day, Jodi's black Dodge Stratus was recovered.

The former landlord of the suspect said young women including his stepdaughter have told him they are afraid because of a statement made by police that they are investigating the possibility of an accomplice in Sanderholm's disappearance.

Kevin Swick said the "hush-hush" atmosphere surrounding the police investigation is upsetting.

"It's not quite right; it creates fear," he said.

Swick, who rents mobile homes several miles from Camp Horizon, said police called him at 3:30 a.m. last Saturday. They told him they needed to search the mobile home where the suspect had lived for a short time late last year.

Five police cars showed up at the location and Swick was there while they made the early morning search, he said.

He said he evicted the suspect from the home and he moved out on Jan. 1.

"It was not a rent issue," he said. "The day he moved in he was a problem."

Police began questioning the suspect shortly after Jodi's disappearance and placed him in custody on outstanding charges that included bond revocation for theft and impersonating a police officer.

Both of those incidents took place the weekend before Jodi's disappearance. The man was arrested Dec. 31, for allegedly stealing cash from a woman's purse in Winfield. The next day, he was arrested for impersonating a police officer and disorderly conduct in Ark City.

"He's the kind that I think has always been able to talk his way out of everything," Swick said.

The man has an extensive record for misdemeanor charges. He is described by high school peers and others as a person with few friends who often found trouble.

He was picked up for disorderly conduct and impersonating an officer Jan. 1 but never went to jail because he complained of chest pains and was taken for medical treatment.

The day before that arrest, he was jailed and apparently bonded out on a misdemeanor theft charge in Winfield.

Court records show he also had five pending cases, including burglary, theft and possession of controlled substances, from November of 2005.

He also was given a diversion from charges in June of 2005 of obstructing the legal process and disorderly conduct. It is not clear whether he completed the diversion.

He was eventually placed in custody sometime over the weekend when police found him for questioning in the Sanderholm case.

They re-arrested him and he has been in custody ever since on impersonation and disorderly conduct charges, and for bond revocation on a theft charge, Sheriff Bob Odell said.

His bail for the three charges was set at $33,000, Odell said.

Police have also said there have been complaints about the man and his interest in Cowley Danceline members.

A woman who is not a danceline member filed a restraining order against him on Jan. 8. She claimed he had been stalking her.